Thursday, August 30, 2007

I don't particularly enjoy writing environment, and if that's the case for you, try having it rain on someone or something that sparks your interest: a crashed space ship, a fugitive princess, a fire taking advantage of a drought, a seed, a child who loves mud ...

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The Green MoonLast RosesHunter of SecretsThe Voyager's SlavesFlight of the PredatorSouls in the StreamHunter in TimeThe Last ShardsThe Sword's BeginningSecret of SoaringFlowers in the NamesSeventh Flight

For those who like to mess around with such things, adding your own words, she has the code at her site.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Randy Ingermanson at The Snowflake Method of Writing a Novel suggests three steps to help get a handle on your novel's (or story's) structure. I prefer writing first and then figuring out what the book is about when it's done ;-)

But his techniques could work well when you've completed a story and are heading into the editing phase.

Step 1: Write a one-sentence summary of your story. For one thing he says this will serve as a ten-second selling tool, a hook to sell your story to an editor. But it's also a good way to get a handle on what your story is about to help you focus on what to cut and what to expand on as you're rewriting.

Tie together the big picture and the personal picture. Which character has the most to lose in this story? Now tell me what he or she wants to win.

Read the one-line blurbs on the New York Times Bestseller list to learn how to do this. Writing a one-sentence description is an art form.

Step 2: Expand the sentence into a full paragraph. He suggests one sentence to give the backdrop and story setup. Then a sentence for each turning point. [He calls them disasters.] And one sentence to tell the ending.

Step 3: Then for each character write a one page summary sheet. He suggests:

The character's name

A one-sentence summary of the character's storyline

The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?) [Someone suggested using the word yearn. What does the character yearn for?]

The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?)

The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal?)

The character's epiphany (what will he/she learn, how will he/she change?)

A one-paragraph summary of the character's storyline

This may give you more insight into your story and you may realize you need to rewrite your one sentence summary or your paragraph. That's a good thing! As he says "it means your characters are teaching you things about your story."

If you're doing this before you write it's okay to go back and change your descriptions as the story evolves. In fact expect to.

Character questionaire (below). Though only a few of the questions get beyond the mundane, what's great about this is that about 75 people (so far) have responded on the message boards. There are some interesting answers as well as surprising ways of answering:

Coffee Drinker: only when awake. Current Location: Molly Pitcher's Pub, over on Cranston Street [most people answered current residence.]Current Location: Padded cellEye Color/Hair Color: He has two looks; his human look with sepia hair and autumn brown eyes and his true Sidhe look of sea sky blue eyes and naked white hair.Favorite Alcoholic Drink: Guinness (It's a meal in a glass) Favorite Meal: anything he doesn't have to cook himself Favorite Meal: Cereal and MilkFavorite Meal: His ma's corned beef and cabbage.Favorite Meal: She's not picky. Food doesn't really interest her. She eats because her mom places food in front of her. Otherwise, she would forget about it altogether.Favorite Meal: Toast Fears: Being responsible for the end of the world.Fears: Going bald, losing his teeth, dying too young and living too long, and spiders. Fears: people finding out who she really is Fears: The Dark and things he can see that others cannot.Fears: The evil that man has against his fellow man, closed in tight spaces, old school witches Has Character Been in Love: Yes But he's more likely to be in lust.Has Character Been in Love: yes, but he denies it Is Character Attractive: When you look at Max, you can see her mind spinning at full speed. This makes her beautiful.Is Character Attractive: Yeah. I wouldn't dare to date a guy that doesn't have character.Life Goal: To die fighting Life Goal: To do something meaningfulLife Goal: to keep breathingLife Goal: To live, man, to live!Life Goal: to piss off as many people as he can Major Strength: Wit, sailing skills, and a head for mathematics without paper and pencil. Major Weakness: Cystic FibrosisMajor Weakness: Explosive Temper and brunettes with blue eyes and he is seldom on time. Major Weakness: Guys who play in bandsMajor Weakness: never backs down from a challenge, no matter what the costMajor Weakness: The Sims 2 Number One Regret: That in the end, he had to turn his back to his people because it was the right thing to do.Tattoo(s)/ Piercing(s): "Piercings?! What'm I, a girl?"Tattoo(s)/ Piercing(s): A colbalt blue rank tattoo across the bridge of his nose that looks like a scar in his human form Tattoo(s)/ Piercing(s): scared of needlesTattoo(s)/ Piercing(s): Shocked that you should suggest such a thing. Vices: Staying up after lights out completing one sudoku puzzle after another. Vices: writing on things esp. her shoes and the bathroom stalls at school

4/24/2007: Create a background for one of you characters by filling out this list:

Full Name:Birthday:Birthplace:Current Location:Heritage:Eye Color/Hair Color:Right or Left Handed:Major Strength:Major Weakness:Fears:Life Goal:Dream Profession:Actual Profession:Favorite Meal:Coffee Drinker:Favorite Alcoholic Drink:Has Character Been in Love:Is Character Attractive:Does Character Think of Self as Attractive:Healthy Habits:Unhealthy Habits:Favorite Movie:Vices:Tattoo(s)/ Piercing(s):Number One Regret:

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Write a 26 sentence story. Start the first sentence with a word beginning with A, the second sentence with a word beginning with B all the way to the last sentence that begins with Z.

Dialog will probably help you out of a lot of problems since it's easier to have someone say something beginning with odd letters than to start sentences with them! But it's also a challenge to begin sentences with a variety of words. I know I fall into the trap of beginning sentences with pronouns (He impaled the vampire ... She ripped the motherboard from the robot ...)

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Saturday, August 11, 2007

This idea comes from Holly Lisle's website, a successful fantasy writer, who has a some excellent essays on writing. In Quick Plot, she walks you through the process of coming up with the essential characters, essential problem, brainstorming scenes of a novel when you need to turn one out immediately.

"Here's the scenario. You find yourself in a situation where you have to do a book in a hurry. Could be you got a letter back from an editor or agent telling you that, while they can't use the book you submitted, they would like to see your next project. Could be you took on more contracts than you have time to complete. Could be you forgot about a pending deadline, or put it off because Real Life intruded in a big way.In any case, now you're faced with a book that must be done to a professional level in a severely limited amount of time, and, for real fun, let's say that you don't even have any idea yet what the book is going to be about. Maybe you know most of the characters, if it's a book in a continuing series. Maybe the whole thing is just a vague, nebulous blur in your mind -- you sort of know what you'd like it to be about, but beyond that, you're in the dark.

Maybe you haven't a clue. You are as blank as the page in front of you. Maybe you simply have never been able to plot out a novel in advance and would like to try it.

No matter what your situation, don't panic. This workshop will teach you how to create plots out of thin air, with nothing but work, and more work, and maybe a bit of work after that. Sound fun? Well, actually, it is."

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Back from a trip to San Francisco! :-) I should be clever enough to come up with a fantasy prompt that has to do with San Francisco but ... apparently not! So here's one dealing with a vacation, anyway.